Teacher talks will put Lingle to test
By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Education Writer
The signs that were waved during the 2001 teachers strike demonstrated the acrimonious relationship between then-Gov. Ben Cayetano and Hawai'i's 13,000 school teachers during tough economic times.
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"When, Ben?" "Call Ben!" and "Ben Was My Friend" became the calling cards that teachers carried.
Many wonder if Gov. Linda Lingle can do any better than, or even as well as, her predecessor in getting better pay for teachers and more money for schools.
Now Gov. Linda Lingle starts her new administration, and presumably her relationship with the state's teachers, with a clean slate and no bad blood.
But while Lingle has made improving the education system a priority, education observers say they have seen few signs whether this governor can make better inroads with schoolteachers than the last. And there is little expectation of a better state economy.
"If style counts for anything, there's a gentler, kinder chief executive," said Rep. Roy Takumi, D-36th (Pearl City, Waipahu), chairman of the House Education Committee. "I think the expectation and hopes in the new administration are very high. But as the saying goes, you can't squeeze blood out of turnips. She will deal with the same economy."
For all that Cayetano lacked in grace in his public relations with teachers, even union officials concede that he was a friend in the end. Teachers received 17 percent and 18 percent pay increases in the contracts negotiated during his administration. The Department of Education's budget was largely shielded from the cuts that other departments took and 16 new schools were built.
The collective bargaining process starts again this month and the current contract ends June 30. With Lingle facing the same dismal economic forecast of the Cayetano years, many wonder if she can do any better than, or even as well as, her predecessor in getting better pay for teachers and more money for schools.
The union won't reveal what it plans to ask for, but one thing is apparent: teachers want a contract before the end of the legislative session.
Preliminary strategy meetings are being held at the headquarters of the Hawai'i State Teachers Association and the Department of Education.
The union, the DOE and the governor's chief negotiator — who has not yet been named — will try to iron out a new teacher's contract even as the budget submitted by Cayetano proposes no money for raises and little in the way of increased spending for public schools.
During the campaign Lingle avoided making promises of teacher raises and smaller class sizes, both of which could be expensive and difficult to fulfill. She has had meet-and-greet sessions with education officials and union officers, but has not discussed specific priorities with them.
Lingle has said that while the contracts for all public worker unions will be a priority, it is too early in the process to determine whether raises could be incorporated into the coming year's budget.
She also hinted that she might ask unions for some concessions.
"I think it's pretty clear from the beginning that there is a tough budget situation in Hawai'i," she said recently. "I want the public employees to be part of the solution to that, and I'm looking forward to meeting with the unions about it. I will ask them to take a long-term view of our budget, of our finances, and the worst-case scenario."
The HSTA enters this round of bargaining on the strength and emotion of its 2001 strike. With 99 percent of its teachers striking, the union for three weeks effectively shut down public education in Hawai'i and proved that HSTA is one of the state's most cohesive unions. Teachers also drew widespread public support despite the inconvenience to families.
But the union remained silent during the governor's race, refusing to endorse either candidate, and has had some recent defeats. It lost a hard-fought battle over pay bonuses promised in its contract, receiving only the first year of the two they had anticipated because the state said it ran out of money. It lost a fight against public employees' health fund reform, although lawmakers expect teachers to bring the issue back in the upcoming legislative session.
Lingle's campaign put special emphasis on improving public education through a radical overhaul that would dismantle the existing system and bulldoze what she sees as a bloated bureaucracy, including changes fought by the union last year.
For their part, the superintendent and members of the Board of Education will ask the new governor and lawmakers for an increase of tens of millions for education, arguing that Hawai'i has one of the most underfunded school systems in the nation.
"What do we want?" Superintendent Pat Hamamoto asked. "All of the above, all of the above, all of the above. We need to address health and safety issues such as better bathrooms and more security officers. We want programs that support quality student behaviors. It's the whole spectrum of the physical environment and what we can do for the students programmatically to ensure that their learning experience is good."
Lingle brings a different style to the bargaining table and is unlikely to make the same kind of off-the-cuff and brutally honest remarks for which Cayetano was known.
"By any objective measure Gov. Cayetano left public education intact. He was a supporter of public education," said Joan Husted, HSTA executive director. "He didn't always stop to think about the impact of his words. Words can be very cruel."
Husted and others at HSTA expect the new governor to be respectful of teachers and willing to look at the working conditions in the schools.
The money, they say, is the great unknown.
Reach Jennifer Hiller at jhiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.
